Need a Creative, Multitasking & Communicating Pro on Your Next Project? Hire a Mom
ARIELE ROSCH / CO-FOUNDER OF PRO MAMA
Hire Some Moms
Are you a someone who is looking for talent? Are you a person who understands and believes rational information and data and uses it to make decisions? Well fantastic, because by the end of these next few paragraphs, I will have convinced you to hire a mom.
Moms? Yes, a mom.
Doesn’t that seem crazy? A person who created another life – actually built a human brain with her own body – how could she possibly handle a job? All joking aside though, hiring a mom may seem like a risk – she may be distracted, she may have to take care of that tiny life she made, and god forbid she is still breastfeeding. But actually, research shows that moms are Swiss army knives – able to get shit done more effectively than people without children.
Team Players, Multi-Taskers, Performers Under Pressure.
Have you ever been asked to slice a sandwich in half but after you do, you realize that the fabric of the universe was being held together by the unsliced sandwich, which is now unraveling around you as you hurriedly try to mash the two pieces of sandwich back together? If yes, you have parented a toddler and you are also a phenomenal team player. It’s not just the obvious that proves mothers are team-playing multi-taskers that perform under pressure; research does also.
It’s better for you
Let’s take the lens off how awesome moms are for a minute – we’ve all heard of companies that offer extensive benefits and support working mothers. What’s the deal with them? Maybe they are just super-duper nice? Maybe they do it for bragging rights? Maybe these processes and benefits make their companies more successful? Ding, ding, ding, ding! Yep! Companies that support parents perform better, retain more employees and build a pipeline for women to leadership positions (which also positively benefits these companies in the long run).
Says Who?
This is a subject matter near and dear to my heart. My partner Jessica Gaffney and I founded Pro Mama, a website that helps connect mamas with mama-friendly jobs after we both struggled with career decisions and opportunities after having children. We decided we needed to do something about that struggle; at Pro Mama, women can sign up for our newsletter and get mama-friendly jobs delivered right to their inbox.
Supporting moms is especially important this week because April 10th is Equal Pay Day. Although there are many factors that play into the gender wage gap, a lot of research now attributes the divide to childbearing and motherhood. Layer on race, ethnicity and single parenting and the gap becomes astoundingly larger. Making small changes - like hiring and supporting mothers - isn't as hard as it seems, and everyone is better for it.
Convinced yet?
Well, I did my best. It’s up to you now. Women are the fastest-growing segment of the skilled-talent pool and they also happen to make humans – the parenting of which makes them more effective, and companies who support them all the more successful. So babies = money. Well, maybe not, but the rest of my argument was pretty sound. Just hire and support some moms.